Note: Just a word of caution, 당신 is very infrequently used when addressing someone in spoken Korean because it has a nuance of confrontation, and it can be offensive when used wrongly. Therefore I advise that you do not use 당신 at all when speaking in Korean!

In Korean, if you want address someone directly, it's more common to use their designated position or status in society, for example, 선생님 (teacher), 사장님 (Head of any company), 사모님 (Wife of any respectable man), 아저씨 (middle-aged man), 아줌마 (middle-aged woman), 할아버지 (elderly man), 할머니 (elderly woman)

Note: Doctors are called 의사 선생님 (Doctor-teacher) or just 선생님 (teacher), and any person can be called 선생님 if you learned something from that person and even if someone is not your teacher, you may choose to call him/her 선생님 if you respect them, and don't have any other particular to name to call them.

However, please let me make this clear that it seems that 당신 is more frequently used in songs and dramas, and 당신 in songs do not sound confrontational, and offensive at all. Actually they sound very endearing in some songs for some reason. But in dramas, 당신 can still be confrontational and offensive, and so it's more likely used in the scenes where characters have verbal arguments.

You may also hear 그 쪽 when someone is addressed. 그 쪽 is used in place of 당신 (because 당신 is avoided in spoken Korean as explained above). 그 쪽 literally means "that side." 그 쪽 is not used frequently at all. It's used between people who share a similar position or status in society, and have just met and are not sure how to address the other person.

11 comments:

I am somewhat confused about the "polite" you. If it is not advisable to use it, and if "that side" is only for people who occupy a similar position or status in society, which pronoun should one use to address a stranger, who might occupy a far higher position on the social ladder (but if you don't know what their profession is)? Would you use "that side" for them, too, until you learn what their profession is?

You would probably avoid using "you" at all in that case until you establish who they're in a society.

However, if you're a young adult and they're quite older than you, for example, a middle-aged man, you could say, "아저씨," which just means, "a middle-aged man" or "아줌마" which means "a middle-aged woman".

There are many alternatives, for example, "사장님" which means CEO of any company, regardless of whether they're small or big.

선배(님) could be used if you went to the same school as them and they're a senior in that school.

Sometimes, when people are quite close, they may use the name of the person's son or daughter to address them.

For example, 로빈 아빠/아버님 = Robyn's Dad/Father

But if you're really not sure how to address them, it is still possible to still address them without using "you" at all.

Hello Luke!Just wanted to ask if you clearify the difference these meanings:-Sometimes I hear that 내가/니가 (I/You with Identifiers) replacing the OBJECTS, not the subjects. For example:니가 생각나는 날엔 is translated by "That day, I(subject) think about You(object). you..."Since 니가 asks about "WHO", ok Who am I thinking? -You.But could the question be like: WHO is thinking about WHAT?

This is so confusing... Why notI - Think (about) You.내가/난 널 생각해.

So, I am confused when the topic 은/는 is blended in the same sentance with 가/이...When the 가/이 word is technicly the object like the first example?

그 쪽 is also used quite uncommonly but it can be used to address someone in a formal situation, e.g. when meeting someone in a business meeting and addressing someone who has a similar social status as you.

안녕하세요! I absolutely love your blog. I'd just like to ask, is there such a word as 너가? Because a friend of mine had sent me a letter where it said, 너가 사랑하는 오빠 생일이야. Or maybe I just misread it? Thank you in advanced.